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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Plant Based Kickass Lasagna

This Easter, I went home to be with my family and my mom hosted Easter dinner. She decided to make a few giant lasagnas for our family, so I decided to make my own kickass vegan version! ;)

I've made a delicious plant based lasagna before from the Engine 2 Diet, but I wanted to make it even better, and add in more layers and change what I wasn't a big fan of.

I took the Engine 2 recipe, and kicked it up a notch with the Best Damn Vegan lasagna recipe I found, AND I added my own elements to it ;) ENJOY!

Here's what you need--I know it seems like a lot....because it is! I purchased everything at Whole Foods, but you can definitely get cheaper options elsewhere. This recipe made a huge sheet and a half, so I recommend you have a vegan potluck or some type of party because it is a TON OF FOOD!

Ingredients (I'll divide them by layer):

For the Protein-Packed Marinara Sauce:

2 28oz. cans crushed tomatoes

1 Package Beyond Beef Crumbles (Beefy)

1cuplarge sweet potato,diced

½cupred lentils(cheaper if you get them in the bulk section)

2-3clovesgarlic,minced

1tsp. salt

1tsp. dried oregano

2 1/2cupswater

For the Vegan Spinach Ricotta:

1cupraw cashews

1 Package Extra Firm Tofu (I made the mistake of letting it drain for a while, but it's important to have it watery so it blends easier)

2cupsfresh baby spinach

¼cupfresh basil leaves, chopped

2clovesgarlic

1teaspoonsalt

1teaspoonlight misowhite (refrigerator section of Whole Foods)

2Tablespoonsnutritional yeast flakes (bulk section)

For the Cashew Cream:

2cupsraw cashews(get all the cashews in bulk >> this adds up to 4 cups of raw cashews total)

1cupwater (I'd potentially use more--you want the consistency to be more liquid than thick)

1 cup raw cashews, ground in a nutribullet to top it with (included in the 4 cups total)

**This takes about an hour of prep and an hour of cook time*

Step 1:

This takes the longest, so turn on some amazing music or podcasts! Chop ALL the veggies for EVERYTHANG. The sauce and veggie layer take the longest. I'd also get out your nutri bullet or high powered blender because the cream and ricotta are simply blending the ingredients together.

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Step 2:

Stir fry the veggies together, add some garlic and cayenne if you want, and get all the ingredients out for the cashew cream and spinach ricotta. Put the veggies aside after they are cooked to your liking.

Step 3:

I simply blended all the ingredients together for the cashew spinach ricotta, but I should have followed the recipe more carefully because it was PACKED and I kept having to stir it to blend. So first, combine the cashews, miso, garlic, salt, and nutritional yeast in your blender and pulse. When it looks nice and crumbly, add the tofu (I chopped it into squares so it would blend easier), spinach, and basil. Store in the fridge while we work on the sauce and cashew cream!

Step 4:

In the same pan you made your veggies (that you set aside), cook the beyond beef crumbles with a little olive oil. You should be able to tell when they're done--they only take about 5 minutes to cook. While those are sizzling, let's start the sauce because you are going to add the crumbles into it!

Step 5:

Saute the garlic and salt with some olive oil over medium heat. You'll want a pretty hefty sauce pan. Add the oregano. Then add in the lentils and sweet potatoes--saute for a few minutes before they start to burn.

Add the water, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes. You want the lentils and sweet potatoes to be soft. Add in the crushed tomatoes, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

This is where I would recommend BLENDING the sauce. If you have a blender to do this with, it'll take some of the chunk out and make for easier layering. After you blend it, add in the beyond beef crumbles, stir to combine, and get ready to layer!

Step 6:

Make the lasagna noodles according to the package--they don't take long at all. Put salt in the boiling water, boil them accordingly, and then immediately run them under cold water so they do not overcook. I layered them on parchment paper so they wouldn't stick while I completed the other layers.

Step 7:

Time to make the cashew cream! Simple take another nutri bullet cup and blend all the ingredients together! You might want to add more water so it's not super thick. Also, while you have it out, get the small nutribullet cup, and blend the last cup of cashews for the lasagna topping--set aside.

Step 8:

Preheat the oven to 350 (yay so close!) and get your pyrex or foil casserole dish ready to GO! Time to put all your layers on a giant table and get to work!

Step 9:

Once all your layers are ready to go, the layer process is super simple. First layer is SAUCE, then NOODLES, followed by the SPINACH RICOTTA. I added a layer of VEGETABLES next. As you can tell, the ricotta is a bit hard to spread, but it doesn't have to look beautiful to taste amazing!

Add more sauce, more pasta, then cashew cream. Honestly, it doesn't matter how you layer it. I'd just make sure each layer has sauce so it sort of pastes together, and drizzle the top with cashew cream.

Step 10:

Next, top the lasagna with the thinly sliced roma tomatoes. Cover with foil, and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Make sure to check on it so it's not boiling over--it's pretty packed!

Step 11:

Remove the foil, and sprinkle on the blended cashews on the top. Keep the foil off, and return to the oven for about 15 minutes for the cashews to brown--it's going to smell AMAZING!! Remove the lasagna from the oven, and let it sit for at least 15 more minutes before diving in.

This is how it should turn out! Slice, and enjoy! You can always freeze the sauce, make this even bigger with even more veggies, but it is super filling!

If you enjoyed this recipe, I'd love to see a comment from you below! OR, if you added your own spin on it, let me know what you did!

If you are interested in even MORE delicious vegan recipes or want me to veganize a dish, send me an email! LaurenMcHughHealth@gmail.com